Posted
by
BeauHDon Saturday June 10, 2017 @05:00AM
from the internet-killed-television dept.

According to a new report from consulting firm Anatomy Media, millennials aren't able to identify the networks responsible for some of the most popular television shows, unless they're created by Netflix. The report indicates that most viewers age 18-26 can't match television shows from ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS, or Disney to to their respective networks. The Next Web reports: This means Jessica Jones is more likely to resonate with millennials as Netflix original programming than Empire does as a Fox network show. 65-percent of the respondents were able to identify a Netflix show correctly, compared to only 31-percent able to do so for other networks' programming. It was even worse for Amazon -- only 20-percent of the young adults could match its shows correctly. The most coveted demographic in television marketing cares twice as much about Netflix as any other provider -- and nobody cares about Amazon's original programming. A different survey conducted by Fluent Insights asked 3,100 millennials about their television viewing habits: half said they watched television exclusively on mobile or desktop platforms.

This, absolutely. It's not about millennials being too dumb to know about TV stations, and it's not just millennials either; I suspect this holds true for most cord-cutters out there. When those people watch series, it's either VOD on Netflix, or it's episodes they've pulled off TPB, some streaming site, or from Usenet via Sickbeard. Who wants to have to watch a show at a specific time of day, and be forced to watch a whole buch of crap commercials besides?

I wonder about the different results for Amazon though, and I'd like to know what the results are for HBO original programming. The thing is, Netflix shows are very prominently branded at the start of the show. HBO does the same (does Amazon?). In contrast, most network content might show some vague little clip at the end of the show to indicate the producing channel; which people who downloaded the show might not even see.

Yes, Amazon does branding at the beginning of their shows. They also show you ads for their shows when you watch their other shows. Fuckers. I do not want ads, I do not give a shit of what kind, they are all garbage and whoever decided they should play on Amazon needs a foot in their arsehole.

This is one of the two complaints that I have with Amazon. The intro ads are annoying and each time I watch a movie on Amazon they serve to remind me, why I hated doing so the last time round.

The other problem is the FireTV user interface. It really needs a serious UI overhaul. I always find myself randomly mashing buttons until I can figure out how to watch the show that I want to see. There are so many bad UI design choices, it's not even funny.

Who? This only matters to TV executives. It's really a "...with a computer" kind of thing. Old wine in new skins. The business models are the same and the content is on the same downward trajectory it was on when cable was king. You just can't start with shit content and ad overload if you're new to the game. Consumers still need to buy the bundles to get the shows. Nothing changed.

I'm an older millennial I guess, at almost 33 years old, and I never knew until they were Netflix exclusive (or, rarely, hulu exclusive or amazon exclusive). I knew what channel they were on, meaning what numbers to press into the remote control. Why anyone would expect me to know what network was on what channel, I don't know.

With netflix it was relevant because I have to specifically go there, instead of to an arbitrary number.

My parents are in their early 60s, I doubt they knew the name of any network except *sigh* the weather network.

As someone the same age, I must agree. I've never even thought of the networks as "brands"; they're just containers with an arbitrary number attached. If you asked me to differentiate beyond that, I truly could not.

TV channels in the U.S. are required to identify themselves in their broadcasts at least once an hour [wikipedia.org]. Many do it more frequently, both to build up branding and so they won't get in trouble with the FCC if they miss an ID broadcast. You have to have seen these [youtube.com] if you watch any cable or over-the-air TV broadcasts.

They aren't required to identify their network, however. They generally do for branding reasons, but the legal requirement only covers call sign, channel, and location. (In the modern world of digital TV that means the PSIP channel, not the one they actually broadcast on which is different for most stations.) It can be done either audibly or visually, though most stations do both. Exception: if the station is doing a long broadcast like a live concert or a soccer game that has no natural breaks at the right

As someone who grew up in Europe, even remembering the channel number is alien to me. All our tv's used to have presets, and you'd order your favorite channels in order of preference, so you'd mostly use preference up/down buttons. Only after moving to the US I realized that this was not a standard thing.

It makes sense now though, as we had at most 15 channels if you were lucky, and the older tv's would have up to 12 analog channel selectors for each preference. Going beyond that number would have been craz

For some context, the image below shows how you had to configure each preset on the old tv's (70's). You had a push-out drawer with a bunch of knobs or gears you had to turn for each channel. They'd go up to 12. Imagine the fun of having to reset all the preferences if they changed the channel numbers!

Agreed, just turned 34 and am in the same boat. Actually, for the most part, I don't even know what channel number most of the shows I watch these days are on as it's Tivo's job to know for me. I have had a Tivo since Netflix was dvd only so this certainly isn't caused by streaming video.

Growing up pre-time shifting (well besides VCRs), I had slightly more awareness. For example I am pretty sure TGIF was on ABC, and I know the Simpsons were on FOX. However like you said, I didn't care as the network was bas

I'm an old geezer. I know that some shows are CW, mainly because they aren't on Hulu. 60 Minutes is CBS. I have no idea where anything else is. Usually I don't even know when they air. I just turn on the tube, look for them on my DVR (or Netflix or Hulu) and watch them.

You mean now they have to actually make content that people enjoy rather than just coast on the name that made it? How do you expect giant studios to crowd out the little guy if the playing field is level?!;)

Way past Millennial age here (GenXer, IIRC). It might be due to me living in a different country where the networks buy from other networks without taking care that they only buy from Fox, ABC or whoever else there is, but then again, I also don't know what networks bought what series. Why? Because it doesn't matter AT ALL.

Well, yeah, being in a different country would mean you wouldn't know what US shows are associated with what US networks. OTOH, if you're (for example) British and you don't know that Eastenders is associated with the BBC, you'd be doing the same thing.

The "Network" in this instance is (more or less) the TV channel you're tuning into to watch the TV show. For example, to watch "Saturday Night Live" you need to tune into the TV channel associated with NBC in your region, which at certain times of day even calls itself NBC. If you're wondering why it's a network, and "associated with", rather than just called NBC all the time, it has to do with the weird geographical set up of TV in the US, where every TV station is local, so to put out national content, TV stations associated themselves with one of five or six major networks.

The reason why most people don't know what network a particular show is associated with is because we (all of us, not just millennials) don't do a lot of tuning in these days. We program our DVRs to record programs, and so only briefly find out that the program is associated with that network at the time we set up the recurring timer. We watch syndicated content - for example, TNT or USA rebroadcast shows from several years ago, with no indication of what network commissioned them. We watch shows on Netflix, Amazon, etc. Essentially, we no longer say "OK, it's time to tune the TV into channel 29, Gotham is just starting!"

I felt like the headline was kinda patronizing Millennials, when all that's happened is the way we watch TV has changed.

If you're wondering why it's a network, and "associated with", rather than just called NBC all the time, it has to do with the weird geographical set up of TV in the US, where every TV station is local, so to put out national content, TV stations associated themselves with one of five or six major networks.

It's not weird. It's because radio signal strength drops off with the square of distance. So each TV station's transmitter antenna can only cover a small geographical area. It's a non-issue for strea

All of the shows they used in the study were created by networks that broadcast over the air. People in the age range surveyed are probably much more likely to watch shows created by cable and premium channels. How is it that they didn't include any shows from FX, Comedy Central, HBO, Showtime, or AMC? I'm a bit older than the surveyed demographic and I would find it difficult to even name 5 shows that aired on any over-the-air network, let alone match the show to the network. They should perform this s

Seriously, this millennial attack bullshit is getting out of hand. Avocado toast, and now "They don't know stuff that's completely unnecessary in 2017"?

I'm waiting on a "My Millennial Grandkid Won't Program My VCR" thinkpiece complaining that the author had to ask his son to program his VCR to record NCIS for him because his grandkid didn't know what a VCR was and didn't give a fuck either.

I'm 64 and I am in the same boat as millennials. Since I never watch live broadcast network television I have no idea what shows are on, much less which network produced them.

I watch the news, movies and series on Netflix and Amazon Prime, and some documentaries from various sources. I watched Lost on Netflix, but I can't tell you which network it was originally on. Sitcoms? Haven't watched one in over a decade because they're all the same, with only the characters and situations changed. I don't care for mysteries or cop shows. There's very little good sci-fi being produced nowadays.

The premiums (HBO, Showtime, Starz, etc) are producing much better series than ABC, NBC, or CBS. I liked True Blood, Black Sails, The Young Pope, Outlander, and now I'm into American Gods.

Ditto! I'm within spitting distance of 60, and I have no idea where most of my shows are. I didn't really pay attention to the channel when I added them to my DVR list, and I certainly don't know now. And these days, I watch as much or more on Netflix or Hulu than I do on regular TV anyway.

Why should anyone care for that matter what network makes the show? Networks don't matter, they haven't probably mattered for a few years now, and they will become more obscure every day. I get it when there were 3 or 4 channels then it was a big deal, but these networks are trying to act like it's still the 1960's and they still matter, when they really don't. Hell kids these days are content to watch youtube videos of some guy commenting while he's playing video games, how in the world is some network

Most of the time you start watching a show that was originated by anything *but* Netflix and you see the show. They generally tuck info about the originating network into the credits and are subtle (except in ads on their own network). Perhaps this is to make selling it for syndication easier, since networks are accustomed to buying things off of each other. Also, due to same syndication, the progeny of a show may become muddled, particularly if a show runs long enough to be both new on original network and in syndication elsewhere. DVR and streaming online obfuscates the origin of the show further.

You start watching any episode of anything netflix made, you first have to click through the show icon with a gigantic 'netflix original series logo', then the first thing in the show itself is 'A netflix original series'. Netflix beats it repeatedly over the viewers head that this is a netflix original series. Other points made about cord cutting and all that may be real, but in terms of identifying the originating network, it's easy to see how marketing strategy plays in.

Folks who don't watch TV much cannot tell you what network originally* hosted a particular series either because, to be honest, no one cares. ( nor does it matter to the consumer )

*Important distinction as some series will be bought and replayed on different networks over time.

As much as they try to burn the network logo into your brain by keeping it visible in the corner during any given show, most folks ignore it. ( Or try to. When it becomes too obnoxious, or the commercials too frequent, I just turn t

People have been ignoring logos and branding for eons now, why is it suddenly a concern? I don't know what networks TV shows "belong" to and I don't know what production house makes any films I watch either... Logos and crap are automatically tuned out by most people because they're not the main content, lots of people skip credits and theme songs as well.

Um, I can tell which network a show is probably on just by watching it. Knowing the network has nothing to do with knowing what channel number it is on TV. Every network has its own feel to it. Knowing which network something is on has a positive correlation to be knowing ahead of time whether I'll like it. Not knowing what network something is on is akin to being proud of not knowing who the showrunner is or who the actors are. It is possible if you are a very casual viewer, but otherwise...

This is a sign that the traditional broadcast TV model is moving towards extinction. The sooner that happens, the better. We're in an age where on-demand viewing should be the norm, not the exception. The sooner the legacy TV broadcast model dies, the better.

Amazon does a fair amount of children's programming, but their adult shows mostly seem to be aimed at people older than the millennials. Their best known show, Transparent, is about a 70 year old trans woman and her children, all of whom are significantly past millennial age. So it's not surprising that recognition of Amazon originals is low among millennials; they're not the audience.

I am a boomer. If I think back to all the shows I watched as a kid, I have no memory of which network they were on, nor do I think I knew at the time. Back then we had a paper "TV Guide" that told us which channel had which show at which time. The local paper also printed listings. I remembered when the shows were on, but I often had to double check the channel.

Millennials have it much harder today, because there are so many channels. We only had four: ABC, CBS, NBC, and PBS. The only good show on PBS was Sesame Street (I had a crush on Maria).

At this point the expression has devolved into a buzzword. Millennial this, Millennial that. When something is perceived as bad link it with 'Millennials' and it will generate even more clicks

We should just go back to calling them Hipsters. That's been the generic word for twenty-somethings since the 1920's. It's already getting to a point where Millennial isn't appropriate anymore when speaking about what the new trends are.

This started bugging me a few years ago so I've started counting them. I think the highest count I've seen so far was around 7 or 8 companies "intros" before the movie. And some of these intros are quite long so it took nearly three minutes of pointless watching before I could get to the actual movie.

It was never meant to matter to you, just the rest of the entertainment industry. Same as the ten minutes of credits that roll at the end of the film. Of course, the need for the makeup artist to leave her thumbprint in the credits has long ago been obviated by internet sites like IMDB, but it's an inexpensive enough Union demand, so why fight that battle?

As others have pointed out, there are much better ways to reduce crime if you have a billion dollars to spend on it than vigilantism. (Yes, some people would become criminals anyway, but his entire reason for being a vigilante is that crime in Gotham is unusually high, which means education reform, job creation, better access to healthcare and mental healthcare, etc, are much more likely to reduce crime across the board than dressing up as a bat.

Even you screwed it up. The question was not what studio produces a show but what network broadcast it.

Because studios and networks are required to be legally distinct, it is completely reasonable the the studio of one parent company produces a show that is shown on the network on another. E.G. Scrubs was produces by ABC studios but shown on the NBC network through season 7. This can create some perverse incentives since the studio reaps royalties from syndication, DVDs, streaming, etc.

I am pretty old. Even if I notice those companies, I am gonna forget long before the media is done playing. I do remember a few, but that is actually by accident and not by choice. I can recognize WB cartoons. Some of them...

or. or.. you can just not watch TV? Im 30 years old and you could ask me about any tv show aired in the last 10 years.. I wouldn't even be able to tell you what its about most likely. I find its better to use the time wasted on watching tv for something constructive. Hell even playing video games keeps your mind more active than TV shows do these days.

No, you're the one hopelessly mired in the twentieth century. When we stream a show, we have not switched a TV dial to a specified channel before watching it, so unless the show is new enough that you have to steam it from the network's own site, knowing what network the show is from is information you get from paying attention to the credits. In today's online world, knowing the originating network is specialized fan knowledge, like knowing who the director is.

Affording Cable isn't the issue, but there is simply no reason to waste money on that shit.

I might be special (in the "special kid" sense, I know...), but TV never really captivated me in the first place. Watching something without doing something meaningful myself was already something I couldn't really stand while at school where I had to be, and I certainly wasn't going to do it during the time I actually could decide for myself what to do.

As i said in an earlier post. Even playing video games keeps your mind more active than watching TV. I rarely watch TV shows anymore. the occasional Southpark or something funny. Even documentary's I watch online. where I can manage the nonsense(commercials that add no value).

everybody says that. but the fact of the matter is that would NO LONGER be the internet. and therefor they would have to call it something completely different. and also nobody would buy it so i dont see that happening any time soon.

Empire is shown on Fox, which has been a major network since the early 1990s. It might be newer than NBC, but it's not even the newest network, and I doubt you'd find many people agreeing with you that the network that shows The Simpsons isn't major.

In it's timeslot, Empire scores around a 2, getting around 7M viewers, at a time when the top rated show, Survivor, usually gets around 8M, so I'm not sure where you're getting it from that it's not something people watch.

But if you watch them on TV there is a network logo on the screen ALL THE TIME, an indignity that Netflix does not inflict on you. It's also true if you watch shows on the networks' web sites, which the millennials are presumably not doing because they would have to know which network the show comes from to do that. If you actually watch the commercials on network TV (rather than leaving the room or fast-forwarding through them on your DVR) they usually also include a bunch of network promos.

I was born in the late 50's and I'd have trouble telling you which networks air the programs I watch. Off the top of my head, the only ones I can match for certain are "Game Of Thrones=HBO" and "Orange Is The New Black=Netflix". Does that mean I'm a millennial or stupid, or that the concept of a programming network is outdated?